Bloggers' views on blades powers Gillette

The challenge: The six-blade issue

Gillette had just launched the first ever six blade razor (five on the front; one on the back) – a big leap forward in shaving technology. We knew that journalists would be going online to find out more about the product. But since nobody had tried it yet, reviews on the internet were mainly sceptical and humorous with lots of funny images and spoof articles.

It goes without saying that a big corporation like Gillette is an easy target for bloggers.

The strategy: Get bloggers to try it

With an excellent track record in producing good products, Gillette already had 85% of the wet shave market. Our task was to get the product into the hands of influential bloggers. So we went underground and identified 450 influential bloggers in the male grooming space. We sent them a gift pack including a Fusion razor, shaving gel, aftershave and some background detail to the product. We invited them to try the product and write about their experiences on blogs. They were under no obligation to write anything positive or even to write anything at all.

The results: Positive PR at virtually no cost

It worked. Within two weeks over one million bloggers had been exposed to comments about the Fusion razor, a cost-per-unique-user of £0.03. People were interacting with the communities and asking questions. Over 4000 comments were posted on blogs. 82% of the feedback was positive.